There are strict regulations for these best-ofs that prevent me from detailing anything beyond the 10 finest slabs that rocked my 2011. That said, 2011 was pretty killer.

Dirty Beaches
Badlands
Alex Zhang Hungtai’s ominous opus on loneliness and the open road alternates between broken-hearted balladeering (the Françoise Hardy–sampling “Lord Knows Best”), eerie greaser rock (“Speedway King”), and decrepit ambient clanks (“Hotel”). Haunted and harrowing, the whole thing’s incredible.

Charles Bradley
No Time for Dreaming
From the detailed account of his brother’s death on “Heartaches and Pain” to the deep and darling “Lovin’ You, Baby”, sexagenarian soul singer Charles Bradley’s debut disc surges with so much raw emotion that it’s a damn shame it took the former James Brown impersonator several decades to find his own voice.

Wild Flag
Wild Flag
Made up of members of Sleater-Kinney and Helium, Wild Flag managed to pull off what supergroups like Zwan and Chickenfoot couldn’t: a well-rounded, stellar debut. Top highlights include Carrie Brownstein’s manic swagger on “Romance” and the angular sap pop of the Mary Timony–sung “Something Came Over Me”.

PJ Harvey
Let England Shake
Though built around melodies appropriated from “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” and Indian radio, the First World War–themed Let England Shake is yet another astoundingly original outing from PJ Harvey. The brass-and-autoharp battle on the bustling “The Words That Maketh Murder” alone is worth the price of admission.

Raphael Saadiq
Stone Rollin’
Whether he’s backed by the booming timpani and strings of the redemptive “Go to Hell” or the fuzzed-out guitar runs and psychedelic synth swells of the devastating “Just Don’t”, Stone Rollin’ finds golden-throated throwback soulsmith Raphael Saadiq delivering some of the smoothest and most sensuous songs of his career.

Real Estate
Days
Truthfully, I still haven’t invested in Real Estate’s earlier efforts, but the bittersweet and breezy “Easy” and the brisk snare-brushing and “whoa-oh-oh”s that drive “It’s Real” have me struggling to figure out why.

Destroyer
Kaputt
Featuring ’80s- porno synths, sexy sax lines, and vocals that bring to mind the Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant more than they do the eccentric caterwaul we’re used to hearing out of Dan Bejar, Kaputt is hands down the perviest Destroyer disc to date. And it just might be the best.

Siskiyou
Keep Away the Dead
While Siskiyou is a folk band at heart, its sophomore set gleefully buckles under the weight of outside influences. The rootsy cover of Neil Young’s “Revolution Blues” is a keeper, for sure, but gems like the title track and “Twigs and Stone”, both imbued with chaotic drum bursts more befitting a Lightning Bolt LP, reach well beyond the back porch.

The Weeknd
House of Balloons
Abel Tesfaye (aka The Weeknd) is constantly dishing on sex and drugs, but the dude is definitely not glamorizing his game. Morning-after meals of Alizé and corn flakes and sad-sack sex scenes with pill poppers are just some of the scenarios recounted on the R&B singer’s first effort, which is driven by left-field samples from Beach House and Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Vacant State
Fill the Void
Nihilist stomps like “Nothing New” and “Dying World” ensure that Vacant State’s raging debut LP is exactly what hardcore should be: ugly, violent, and mean.